Improvement in tracks for railroads



A. E. BEAOH. RAILROAD TRACK.

No. 49,698. Patented Sept. 5, 1865.

. wheels of vehicles cannot fall into the said UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

A. ELY Barton, OFSTRATFORD, oonnnecrrcur.

lMPROVEMENT lN TRACKS FDR RAILROADS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 49,698, dated September 5, 1865.

1'0 all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, A. ELY BEACH, of Stratford, Fairfield county, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Tracks for Railroads and Draft-Gables; and I do hereby declare that the following is a to l and exact description of my invention, which will enable any person skilled in the artto make and use the same.

Referenceis to be made to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, in which the same letters in the various figures indicate corresponding parts.

In Sheet 1, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved track. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional elevation. Fig. 3 is a plan view. Figs. 4, 5, 6 are illustrations of modifications. in Sheet 2. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of my improvement as applied to curved tracks. Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional elevation of the same; Fig. 9, a horizontal plan section; Fig. 10, view of a modification.

The object of my invention is to facilitate the propulsion of railroad-cars and other vehicles by means of stationary engines, and in cities to dispense with the use of horses in the streets for drawing cars or vehicles. With this object I propel the cars or other vehiclesby means of a traction or draft cable, which, in cities, I propose toarrange or cause to move below the surface of the ground in a narrow groove or channel made in the railroad-rail, or in a channel made either under the rail or at any other suitable position below the surface of the. ground.

,For operation in tunnels or in the open country it is not so necessary that the channel in which the cable moves shall. be placed below the ground.

The channel or groove in which the cable works is intended to have so narrow an opening or communication with the ground that the usual manner. I also remove a portion of the center of the loo gitudinal wooden sleeper upon which "the'rails are commonly supported, which removal divides the sleeper into two portions, B B. The space between these portions forms a narrow channel or groove intended to be below the surface of the ground, in which channel or groove, at the bottom thereof, I place a grooved or U-shaped rail, 0. The sides or highest edges e e of the rail 0 form a track upon which the friction -wheels of the cable run, while the central or depressed portion of the rail 0 forms a gutter or receptacle for water and dirt.

In Fig. 2 the red lines indicate the cable and its wheels, showing their relative positions within the channel, b b beingthe cable-links, and c c the wheels upon which it is mounted. at is the device whichco-nnects the car with the cable, the said device being lowered from the car in such a manner as to enter the channel between the rails A A and connect with the links of the cable.

in order to prevent the lodgment of dirt or other substance upon the cable-rails e e, I make the said rails of inclined form, as shown in Fig. l. Another modification consists in making the said rails e e or" separate strips of iron fastened against the inner sides of the sleepers B B, the said rails being slightly separated from the sleepers, except at the points of fastening, f, so that any accumulating dirt or sub stance may pass between the adjacent sides of the sleepers andthe rails e e an d fall below the said rails. The space below the rails will form a gutter or receptacle for water, dirt, and foreign substances, from which it will be removed by means of openings D in the bottomv oi the channel, or by suitable separations left at the ends of the sleepers. All such foreign matters will be cleared and carried out of the channel by scrapers pendent from the moving cable.

\rVhen the cable runs or is mounted upon wheels which run singly instead of in pairs, as here shown, a rail, G, or groove will be formed in the center of the channel for such wheel F, and the dirt and water will pass ott' upon each side of said wheel. (See Fig. 10.;

At those places where the railroadtrack channel and receive injury from the cable.

In applying my invention to the purposes of a city railroad, I use a'rail similar in size and form to those now ordinarily employed. The only change that 1 make in the rail is to cut out the central or grooved portion thereof and A entirely remove said central portion, thus dimakesaslmrtcurve-as,i'orexampl.e,in passing viding the rail into two portions, A A, upon thecornersofstreets---thecablewillbestrained one of which, A, the car'wheels arnn in the laterally against the side ol' its, channel and much friction will there ensue. To overcome When the cable is not located in or under this frietionI arrange aseriesoffriction-wheels the railroad-track then the rails A A will be in the sides of the sleepers, and the edges of unnecessary, atraek for the travel of the cable these wheels E project into the channel bebeing only required.

tween the sleepers, so that any lateral pressure Having thus described my invention, I claim upon or toward the sleepers by the cable will as newanddeslre to secure by Letters Patent be sustained and overcome by the friction- The construction of tracks for railroads and wheels E. draft-cables, or for draft-cables only, substan- Thesleepers and other parts (here represent tially as herein shown and described.

ed as made of wood may be formed .of meta either separately or together. ELY BEACH do not limit my improvements to any parv Witnesses: iicular form of the parts, nor to any especial PETER OooKE, size thereof nor material. OGTAVIUS KNIGHT. 

